Thursday, January 3

If you ever wondered whether there is any truth to the idiom “actions speak louder than words,” you might find some proof perusing more than a thousand stories shared by bloggers on Dec. 17.

These bloggers, hundreds of them, performed various acts of kindness — small and large, simple and complex, personal and public — and then posted about it.

They didn’t do it to be pretentious as the “LoneRanger” from Voice of America suggested on a Digg comment, but rather to support each other in reponse to Tony Berkman and the BlogCatalog team.

The challenge? Perform an act of kindness and share it in a post, photo, or video on the same day. Many went above and beyond, sharing stories that will touch your heart, ranging from a daughter’s love for her mother and a group of fans saving a family pet to cleaning up a neighborhood (donating the proceeds to a non-profit organization) and thanking a reggae street performer in Rome.

Together, the results demonstrate how one blogger, joined by many bloggers, can make a tangible difference, online and off.

In addition to the prizes and recognition listed on the BlogCatalog mini-site, I’m honored to be profiling these three bloggers in the weeks ahead, along with three others from the Top 20 posts selected by six judges who took the time to read every post submitted (and then some).

Thank you all for taking the time to do something kind. And thank you all for sharing your stories. While some might say that good deeds are best kept secret, I personally think such acts of kindness need to be shared more often. You see, pebbles cast on still waters tends to make ripples.

I agree Jane. Ho hum. Sometimes people find what they want to find. I was mostly surprised by who was, er, under the mask. ;)

More importantly, thank you (though I played a smaller role this time around). And congratulations on being included among the top 20 posts. Your story was very touching from the perceptive of a recipient. Glad to hear Boo is continuing to do well!

Rich,"While some might say that good deeds are best kept secret, I personally think such acts of kindness need to be shared more often. You see, pebbles cast on still waters tends to make ripples."

The initial feeling i had when i realised that my...simple act was within the top 20 was actually one of embarrassment. Within certain cultures especially Asian, and definitely the older generation, drawing attention to good deeds is actually not the norm.

But having seen the viral effects of blogging from the Myammar crisis, where local bloggers were the first to alert the world abt the abuses in their country, to the Unite in Kindness campaign, i realised a lot of good can actually come out if the message is spread.

I really appreciate the feedback on the campaign. I expect good things from BlogCatalog and future Bloggers Unite campaigns.

Thank you for sharing your experience too. It took me almost ten years to learn that sometimes the result of saying nothing is the same result as doing nothing.

Times have changed. It used to be that everyone did good deeds and didn't talk about them. But something changed. People stopped doing good deeds because they believed they were the only ones. Nowadays, it requires a few brave people to stand up and say that they did something good to inspire others.

I'm glad you participated and loved your contribution to the campaign.

Rich,"It took me almost ten years to learn that sometimes the result of saying nothing is the same result as doing nothing.

Times have changed. It used to be that everyone did good deeds and didn't talk about them. But something changed. People stopped doing good deeds because they believed they were the only ones. Nowadays, it requires a few brave people to stand up and say that they did something good to inspire others."

This is a very poignant comment and with your permission, i would like to "plagiarise" it, with full attribution of course, for a re-write of one of my post that was written in haste : A Pleasant Surprise From Blog Catalog.

It is such an interesting paradox. I felt pretty embarrassed to publicly write about my rather simple and ordinary efforts but I do realize that the example of others really propelled me to take part. Kindness is contagious, yes?

Kindness spreads. Sometimes even if we are uncomfortable sharing good deeds or an act of kindness, it's better to share because then others are likely to action as well.

I learned this several years ago while working on the small business campaign for the United Way of Southern Nevada. Southern Nevada (the Las Vegas area) has one of the lowest rates of business giving in the United States. One of the top reasons small businesses did not give back to the community was simple — they thought no one else did.

So we found several small companies that did give back to the community and built their examples into the campaign. Other companies followed.

The same can be said about this campaign. Knowing one more blogger or ten more bloggers or one hundred more bloggers or ten thousand bloggers are joining to do some good in the world, makes it much easier for one more blogger to join them.

Kindness is contagious. And if more people shared their stories more often, the world would be a better place because we would come to realize things are so bad. Things are actually getting better. We just don't hear about the successes as much.

As I rode down to New York city for the weekend with a friend, I told her about this kindness is contagious concept that we are discussing and she said that when I was involved with actively trying to do some kind actions she also got in the spirit of it and for several days focused in on it. It's true it really spreads from person to person.